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Table and silverware

The housewife under fifty much likes the similarly-named ménagère (canteen of cutlery). But table- and silverware auctions feature fine antique cutlery sets in silver or vermeil, containing table forks and knives, coffee and dessert spoons, sugar tongs and pie servers, meticulously presented in a fine box.traditional silverware with shell or filet patterns and remarkable pieces by silversmiths in the rocaille (odiot) or art deco styles (puiforcat, christofle, etc.) Feature in these online auctions, with dinner services in porcelain (sèvres, meissen, limoges) or earthenware (moustiers, gien, nevers), which include dinner, soup and dessert plates, tureens and sauce boats.
Not to mention "top-glass" sets of glasses and carafes in baccarat, saint-louis and daum crystal, which rival with ornamental pieces for presenting and serving sweet substances: ewers, sweet jars, sugar dredgers, jam pot, and the like.
Did you know ?
One ornamental piece that still exists today is the champagne bucket: an item that regularly appears in drouot auctions.

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A GIUSTINIANI RED WARE PART DESSERT SERVICE NAPLES, CIRCA 1830 - A GIUSTINIANI RED WARE PART DESSERT SERVICE NAPLES, CIRCA 1830 Painted in the Attic manner with Etruscan subjects, comprising; ten dessert plates, 24.5cm diameter, two low kylix comports, 8.5cm x 25cm and two larger, 11cm & 11.5cm x 27cm, all with a Vitruvian scroll inner border save the larger of the four comports, impressed script Giustiniani marksNicola Giustiniani established the works in Naples in 1760, originally producing cream-coloured earthenware and prospered into the 19th century, eventually closing about 1885. It was helped in part by the closure of the royal porcelain works in Naples in 1821. With the discovery of the buried ruins of the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum and the historical artefacts uncovered there which went on to influence art movements throughout Europe, Naples was therefore very much on the Grand Tour circuit. Wealthy tourists from Northern Europe would wish to buy souvenirs, Antique copies and associated items and the Giustiniani works were just one of many factories reproducing bronzes, ceramics, glass etc. after the Antique and this can clearly be seen here in the decoration of these plates.Examples of the works of Giustiniani can be seen at the Palace of Caserta, built for Charles VII of Naples and completed by Ferdinand IV of Naples. For those interested, a visit to the Reggia at Caserta, a world heritage site, would justify a visit to Naples on its own merits even without the other rich historical wonders on offer in Naples and its environs.

Estim. 6,000 - 8,000 GBP